1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile tray, and more particularly, to a locking device for an automobile tray wherein a horizontal movement of a knob, which is manually operated to open the tray, is converted into a rotating movement of a rotating member and in turn, the rotating movement of the rotating member is converted into a vertical movement of a latch member, whereby locking and unlocking of the tray can be easily accomplished even in a limited space.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an automobile contains several storage places therein for storing a variety of large and small items.
Examples of the automobile storage spaces include a trunk room, which is suitable for storing relatively large items and allows the stored items to be taken out at the outside of an automobile, and an automobile tray which is suitable for storing relatively small and light-weight items and allows a driver or passenger to easily take out frequently used items in the passenger room of the automobile.
In the case where it is difficult to store a certain item in the passenger room or trunk room of an automobile because of an excessively large volume or long length of the item, an auxiliary carriage device may be mounted to a roof of the automobile for carrying the item.
Now, a conventional automobile tray will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a locking device for a conventional automobile tray, prior to being operated, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the locking device for the conventional automobile tray shown in FIG. 1, after being operated.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional automobile tray is installed below an automobile dash panel 1 or a center facia, or the like. A knob 2 for opening and closing the tray protrudes outward from a front surface of the tray.
The tray includes an outer housing 7 defining an outer body and an inner housing 6 slidably received in the outer housing 7.
The knob 2 is adapted to perform a horizontal reciprocating movement. An L-shaped latch 3 is provided at a rear side of the knob 2 and adapted to perform a rotating movement by the horizontal movement of the knob 2.
To ensure the latch 3 and the knob 2 to be returned to their original positions, a spring 4 is wound on a rotating shaft of the latch 3.
One end of the latch 3 comes into contact with the knob 2, and the other end of the latch 3 is caught by a holding aperture 5 that is perforated in an upper end of the inner housing 6.
In the conventional automobile tray having the above described configuration, if a user presses the knob 2 with his/her finger, as shown in FIG. 2, the knob 2 is moved horizontally into the dash panel 1, thereby causing the latch 3 to be rotated.
As the latch 3 is rotated, the other end of the latch 3 is released from the holding aperture 5. Then, if the user takes away his/her finger from the knob 2, the latch 3 and the knob 2 are returned to their original positions by a restoration force of the spring 4.
However, for the sake of the locking and unlocking of the conventional tray, a linear movement of the knob 2 must be converted into a rotating movement of the latch 3. In this case, if the tray locking device only has a limited installation space, the knob 2 has a short linear movement distance and thus, the latch 3 has a short upward movement distance. This is problematic because the latch 3 may fail to be completely released from the holding aperture 5.
Furthermore, in the above described configuration, both the latch 3 and the knob 2 are adapted to be returned to their original positions by the single spring 4. Therefore, if a tensile force of the spring 4 is regulated for the sake of regulating an operating force of the knob 2, it may have an effect on an operating force of the latch 3. Conversely, if the tensile force of the spring 4 is regulated for the sake of regulating the operating force of the latch 3, it may have an effect on the operating force of the knob 2. Accordingly, there is a necessity for an improvement in the return operation of the latch 3 and the knob 2